Finding a Dairy Queen, “Keep Austin Weird” and idolizing Troy Aikman

Want some tidbits about the next quarterback(s) at the University of Texas? Colt McCoy and Jevan Snead were particularly candid recently from everything about growing up in small Texas towns, to making the transition to big city life to music taste to favorite foods to hobbies.

If you’re scoring at home: Snead 1, McCoy 0. If you’re looking for a Blizzard in Tuscola you won’t find one, but you will in Stephenville.

“Austin is a great city,” he added. If things don’t work out at quarterback, McCoy has a future in politics. If Rick Perry can be an A&M yell leader and become governor, why not a UT quarterback?

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Snead on what it would mean to be the starting quarterback at Texas: “Every little kid growing up in Texas dreams about it. When it gets here, it’s really unexplainable how it feels. This is a chance of a lifetime.”

Football, sleep and classes occupy most of their time, but Snead has picked up golf lately. “I’m not Tiger Woods or anything,” he said.

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Quick, word association. Football. Too slow. “It’s football all the time,” Snead says of Stephenville. “It’s a big football town. When you hear Stephenville a lot of times, people in Texas say, ‘Y’all have a great football team.’ We take pride in that.” Snead gets a bonus point for using “Y’all.” Only a true Texan would say that.

McCoy grew up the son of a football coach and had a tire swing in his backyard he would throw footballs. He’s always wanted to become a quarterback. “I’ve been around the game since I was born,” he said. “My dad being a coach makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun. I couldn’t wait to play. My entire life has been like that.”

Vince Young was the ring leader for the Longhorns’ flow sessions the past two years. Both quarterbacks say they like a variety of music. “They are teaching me some moves,” McCoy said. “They think it’s funny when I bust a move.”

McCoy also said he loves to hunt whitetail deer and fish.

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Do not enter if you’re a Texans fan. McCoy and Snead both list Hall of Famer Troy Aikman has their favorite sports hero. “Troy is the man,” McCoy said. “I don’t care what anybody says. The Cowboys were one of my favorite teams growing up. Troy Aikman grew up in a small town (Henryetta, Okla.). He’s just somebody I admired growing up.” Who did you expect them to say … David Carr?

Speaking of heroes, McCoy made headlines during the off-season when he swam 300 yards across a lake to get help for a 60-year-old neighbor who had suffered a seizure. “I don’t know the exact distance, but it was a dang long way,” he said. “I just did what anybody else had been in the same situation hopefully would have done.”

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Neither quarterback has a nickname, but “Colt” comes close. “Some people called me Colt .45,” McCoy said. “I guess you can’t really consider that a nickname.”

What does McCoy think about UT’s showdown with top-ranked Ohio State? “I’ve been thinking about Sept. 9 for a long time.”